Whispers
by Elizabeth C Snyder
Summary: The Dark Lord pays a phantom visit to Bellatrix in Azkaban.  Or, does he?  Is Bellatrix succumbing to the insanity Azkaban often bestows on its visitors?


_**Dislcaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, the characters or the locations of the Harry Potter series. They belong to JK Rowling, Scholastic and any other legal copyright holders._

_ **Author's Notes:** I am new to Bellamort but not writing or fanfiction in general. This is my first newly published fic here and it has been a while since I have been to the site at all. I hope you enjoy, it is more Bellatrix-centric than Bellamort, but the Bellamort is there. Please review!_

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I stretched in the dank cell that smelled of rotten flesh and moldy water that I felt seep through my prison clothes, leaving me shivering. It soaked through to my skin and I laughed, running my hands through the dirt and water on the ground, smirking. Something barely uncomfortable would not break my loyalty. It felt like years since they'd thrown me into this cell, telling me he was dead. That a _baby_ defeated my lord! They were wrong, I knew they were!

Another laugh left my lips, flowing freely as my head fell back against the stone wall. I clawed at the ground slowly, watching the gashes my fingernails made in the dirt. A baby, killing my lord! Fools. He would come back. And, when he did I would be the first he would find.

I heard a shriek in the cell next to me...Rodolphus. My lips became a sneer, a high pitched laugh bubbling past them. I laughed and laughed. Some were too weak to do what their lord required. They hated these cells, cried like babies. But, I was strong. _I_ had faith in my Lord and _I_ knew it would not last.

"Bella..." A voice whispered, a ghost of a sound, in the darkness. I looked up with narrowed eyes. For a moment I thought Rodolphus had become frightened like a little child again. "Bella..." It whispered, a hint of amusement, almost taunting with the melodic call. My eyes widened and a grin spread across my face. My lord! I barely registered the scraping I heard in the cell next to mine. No, I had not gone insane from that place. My Lord was there, he'd come to me! I just knew I would be his first. _Always._

I waited. I waited so long to hear his voice again after that. My eyes burned with stinging dryness and my brain felt like it was on fire, scorching my skull from inside out. I pulled at my hair, felt the tears pooling in my burning eyes. So long. His voice never came, but, I did not lose faith. He would come, I knew he would. He could not stay away from me.

I do not know how long I'd stayed awake, I was barely existing consciously when I heard it again. "Bella..." The same whispered call, haunting and teasing me from sleep's grasp. My head shot up and I looked around. He had to be here! I'd heard him! I wanted so desperately to sleep but I could not allow myself to miss if my master called upon me again.

"My lord." I answered calmly, my hands shaking with anticipation and my lips waiting to kiss the hem of his robes. Anything, to touch him. To see him. "My lord, please..." I pleaded, my voice quiet and desperate now as I searched my cell. I could not see him but I could hear his voice to my right and moved closer, crawling through the mud on the wet floor. And, then, he was on my left and I turned, my lips curling into a frown. Then, his voice was in circles all around me and I could not pinpoint where he could be. Not even a hint. The ministry was cruel, taunting me. Bringing my lord so close but keeping him away from me. How dare they use him like that!

I knew he would not return right away. Somehow I knew and I let myself fall into a sleep. My dreams were haunted with thoughts of him never returning. Being apart forever, trapped here and unable to aid my lord. I now knew why others hated this place so much, how horrifying it could be. My sleep was wracked with sobs, choking whimpers of terror. My eyes snapped awake suddenly, I felt something! Almost like a breeze, a haunting touch, barely there at all. I blinked, the sleep still fogging my mind. Just a breeze. I sighed and laid my head back against the stone wall, my eyes slipping closed and exhaustion trying to claim me once again. It clawed at my thoughts, trying to pull me into to sleep but I fought it. He would return. I would be waiting.

"Bella..." And, all at once exhaustion left me and I sat, tall and alert. I felt a phantom touch at my neck, lightly running down. A finger. It was his hand! But, he was not there, I could see nothing though I had small rays of light from the moon. Still, the hand caressed my neck...fingered gently through my hair.

The touch was feathering over my collarbone, iciness seeping through my flesh. I gasped, my head falling against the stony wall and my eyes wide as the breath was stolen from my chest. My heart beat against my chest ferociously as I gasped for breath. I knew it was his touch, I knew it was real and I knew the other _oh so loyal_ deatheaters would laugh. They would be amused by my loyalty, my faith. With my love for our lord. Fools.

I felt those frozen fingers ghost an inch lower, hesitating. My breath hitched and I held it, not daring to move for fear they would leave as suddenly as they'd come. As _he'd_ come. I could still feel my heart in that moment of waiting and I knew he could feel it against his phantom fingers. Those fingers left my skin but I could still feel their chill over my prisoner's shirt. They slithered down in a snakelike pattern, frosting over every inch on the zigagging path downward. I felt them on my skin once again at the hem of my shirt as they inched it invisibly upward. My breath left me in a sharp gasp, waiting for the feel of his touch to continue before breathing.

And, then it was gone. The chill, the faint touch I'd felt; both were gone so quickly. Without a thought, I jumped up and charged at the barred edge of my cell. My screams echoed in the scared silence of the prison. The others feared the dementors, but my lord was out there and it encouraged my bravery. My hands gripped the bars, shaking them. I could have broken them down, I just know I could have. My lord was out there somewhere and I would find him! His most faithful servant.

The anguish lasted for so long. The screaming made my throat raw and tense, exhaustion took over my body. I dropped to the floor, quietly sobbing for my lord and clinging to the bars that kept me from him. I never cried and the shame of having sunk so low now, when my master needed me made the tears fall faster.

It felt like so long since he'd come to me but time blurred in that place. It blurred the same way reality did, always making you unsure and jumpy. That place almost tricked me into believing he had forgotten me, that I was no longer his favorite. But, it never convinced me he was gone...that he had been defeated. Never. Not for one tiny second did my faith in him waver.

I cowered in the corner of my cell, holding myself against the chilly air that never went away. For a long time I did not recognize the pathetic whimpering as my own. The dementors swept past, taking everything good with them. They took my resolve, they took the hope of my lord returning to me, they took everything important. My only focus was that he was no longer there, they kept him from me. That was all I could think of. I no longer was determined to help...there was no way to. There was no hope. My master was somewhere far away.

Vaguely, I could hear Rodolphus. "My Bella." His voice was cooing as he tried to soothe my whimpers though he was wracked with his own. He was never a bad husband. He had been caring, for what it was worth. He had followed me in everything. And then, the dementors flew past and I could only remember how weak he was. I laughed and laughed at his weakness, tears wiping my grimy face clean. As quickly as the laughter came, it turned into wracking sobs. So long. My lord was gone so long.

I waited and I tried so hard to stay awake, I swear I did. I screamed for him, screeched into the echoing hallways of the haunted prison. But, he did not come. Not for such a long time.

When he did return it was not with the same strength. Almost like a dream. We had hushed, whispered conversations in the night...plans to set us both free and bring him to his rightful place, leading the magical world. He would come to power again, rid the world of the mudblooded filth! The sobbing wouldn't stop. I hated it, this weak feeling of helplessness. How could people be so cruel to keep me from my master? To keep him from setting the world right. Why did they not see the brilliance the Dark Lord possessed?

When I could no longer keep my eyes open, sleep took me with its clawing grasp, pulling me further from my lord. The dementors could not keep my dreams from me completely. No, sometimes my dreams were safe. I kept them safe. _He_ kept them safe. I felt him in my dreams, protecting them so I was sure to remember them. Was it a dream? That half wakeful state brought his touch, Sliding down my body and frosting every inch of my skin with his fingers. It left frozen paths in its wake and the mark on my wrist burned black. I knew. It wasn't a dream and I laughed in joyous relief, crying and sitting up. He was there, he was really there. His fingers ghosted over my mark, the cold touch a relief to the burning brand. I gasped and closed my eyes, feeling him and his magic coursing through my veins.

"Master..." I choked in a gasping voice, still feeling his magic penetrate my flesh. It was frozen and hot all at once.

"Bella..." He called back, his voice haunting...like a siren's call to the sea, pulling me to his service. The dementors breezed past and with them, they took my master from me. I screeched, pulling at my garments. The fabric tore and my wails echoed in the deserted lengths of passageway in the prison. When I could no longer scream, the tears came. How could they be so cruel?!

Maybe...was he punishing me? My loyalty had never wavered! They would not reveal him to me, it wasn't my fault! My arms rested on my knees, my face buried ontop of them.

I tried, Master! I did! "I swear I tried." I mumbled into thin air, sobbing. My voice went unheard, not even the dementors stopped to look. Maybe it had only been pleaded in my mind. There was nothing I could do. I had tried so hard.

The years in that place passed like a floo portal, a blur before my eyes...spinning the world together. For a long time he did not visit me again and then the walls of the prison were blasted open and rain poured down on me. A small smile graced my lips, slowly becoming a grin. He'd come! He had forgiven me for not finding him and he came to save me from that prison! I was once again reunited with my master, once again his favorite...his most loyal. Things would be okay now. We would rid the world of the filth and he would be able to reclaim his power. As soon as we took revenge on that disgustingly lucky mudblood _child_ he had told me about so frequently in our late night talks. Then, everything would be right again. Everything would be okay.


End file.
